The present invention relates to computers and more particularly to an apparatus for monitoring the activity between a peripheral unit and a computer. The apparatus is connected to the in-out interface between the computer and the peripheral unit and analyzes the activity on the bus to determine the cause of computer failures.
Most computers operate by receiving instructions or data from an outside source which is transmitted to the computer which then performs certain functions on the data and supplies an answer to the outside source. When a computer fails to function properly, it is difficult to determine the cause of failure. It could occur as a result of failure to receive information from the outside source or failure of the computer to transmit its results to the outside source. In either case the actual detection of the cause of the malfunction is difficult.
In conventional computer systems the data going into the computer and the data coming out is not displayed but merely manipulated either in the computer or the outside source with only the final result being displayed in a printed format. Similarly, the data that is transmitted to the computer is not displayed but merely transmitted from a recorded source such as a tape or cards or similar materials to the computer. In the past, it has been necessary to repeat the portion of the operation around the computer failure and then attempt to diagnose or guess at the cause of the failure of the computer to operate properly.